catfish

From cat + fish, likely so named for its prominent barbels resembling a cat's whiskers. West Frisian katfisk and Dutch katvis follow the same pattern, and German Seekatze ("sea-cat") echoes the same idea.

The word stayed a straightforward name for the whiskered fish until 2010, when the documentary Catfish borrowed it for online deception — supposedly inspired by fishermen keeping cod active during transport by storing them with these nipping fish.

Its cousins abroad, West Frisian katfisk and Dutch katvis, show the same cat-plus-fish logic, while German's Seekatze ("sea-cat") lands on the same feline comparison from a different angle.